Ring with sealed mounting containing mirror surface

ABSTRACT

A solid back ring is provided having a stone mounted in an upper portion wherein a moisture-proof seal is secured between the stone and the aforesaid upper portion. The moisture-proof seal is also arranged so as to provide a container for a nickel and rhodium plated slug which serves as a mirror. The mirror is utilized to reflect light outwardly through facets on the bottom surface of the stone.

United States Patent [75] Inventor: George R. Reneer, Conroe, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Star Engraving Company, Houston,

Tex.

[22] Filed: Jan. 21, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 434,994

[52] U.S. Cl 63/15; 63/26 [51] int. Cl. A44e 17/02 [58] Field of Search 63/26, 28, 15

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 795,109 7/1905 Dover 63/26 1,578,907 3/1926 Naumberg 1,798,409 3/1931 Ferris 63/26 UX eneer Aug. 12, 1975 RING WITH SEALED MOUNTING 2,220,389 11/1940 Berg 63/26 UX CONTAINING MIRROR SURFACE 2,316,225 4/1943 l-lofi'mann et all 3,605,442 9 1971 Parker et a1. r. 63/26 Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby & Cushinan [5 7 ABSTRAT A solid back ring is provided having a stone mounted in an upper portion wherein a moisture-proof seal is secured between the stone and the aforesaid upper portion. The moisture-proof seal is also arranged so as to provide a container for a nickel and rhodium plated slug which serves as a mirror. The mirror is utilized to reflect light outwardly through facets on the bottom surface of the stone.

6 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure PATENTEB Ausi 2197s I'll I'IIA RING WITH SEALED MOUNTING CONTAINING MIRROR SURFACE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of jewelry, and more particularly, to the use of a decorative stone in a finger ring. The use of a stone with a ring has been known since time immemorial, but it is only of recent decades that gold alloy rings of large and heavy design used to support a decorative stone have become increasingly popular as class and graduation rings for high schools and colleges.

The present invention is addressed to the problem of providing a decorative light transmitting stone secured within a ring so that a mirror may be used to provide for reflection of light through the stone. Previous rings of this nature were of open back construction in which the shank portion of the ring was joined onto a stone holding portion so that the backside of the stone holding portion was open to the finger. As can be readily understood, such a stone holding portion may have been adequate to secure the stone to the ring but dirt, moisture and other foreign matter could easily become encrusted around the stone because it was held in an open back upper portion having contact with the finger. Such construction necessitated the frequent cleaning and repairing of such a typical open back ring.

In answer to this problem, the jewelry and ring industry developed the solid back ring in which the stone is held in an upper portion separated from the finger by a solid backing. In order to achieve brilliance from reflected light in such stones, vacuum metalizing is employed. In vacuum metalizing, a layer of aluminum chromium epoxy is typically coated on the under surface of the stone. In order for such a mirror coating to be efficiently secured to a faceted surface of the stone, the stone had to be cleaned meticulously, which added to production costs. Even with such a thoroughly cleaned stone it has been found that mirror coating experiences a high rate of failure because the faceted surfaces of the stone do not provide for sufficient area to adequately hold or secure the mirror layer. Also, such rings have not been provided with an effective moisture seal, and hence, moisture could enter within the interior of the ring beneath the stone and add to a weakening of the bond between the mirror coating andthe faceted surface of the stone. Thus, it can be seen that there are obvious deficiencies with such a vacuum metallizing method. It has been estimated that approximately 90 percent of class and graduation rings are of solid back construction using the above described mirror coating method to obtain brilliance in reflection through a stone.

The instant invention has as its primary purpose to provide for a solid back ring which does not allow dirt, moisture, or other foreign material to work its way to an interior position of the stone setting and also to provide for a mirror surface which may be supported within a cavity of the ring. This mirror surface must not be adherred to the faceted areas of the bottom surface of the stone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a solid back ring with a separate reflective mirror surface thus eliminating the need to deposit a refleeting material on the underside surfaces of a decorative stone within the ring.

It is another object of the present invention to provide for a solid back ring which has a moisture seal and a cushion made of plastic in which the moisture seal is constructed so as to provide for a support for a mirror.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for a solid back ring in which the mirror is a small copper or brass slug coated with nickel and rhodium which is supported by a plastic cup in which the cup is also used as a sealing means between the stone and ring.

It is yet another object of the instant invention to provide for a solid back ring having a mirror which reflects light through a stone so as to achieve an unusually effective brilliance, because the mirror employs a nickel and rhodium finish.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide for jewelry such as lapel pins and brooches which would incorporate the novel and advantageous features of the present invention.

Additional objects of the present invention reside in the specific construction of the exemplary embodiment hereinafter particularly described in the specification and shown in the drawing,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Novel features of the improved jewelry mounting structure in accordance with the present invention will be more readily understood from a consideration of the following description taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which certain preferred adaptations are illustrated with the various parts thereof identified by suitable references character shown in the drawing.

The drawing is a side elevational view of a cut taken through the center of the ring as contemplated by the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawing there is shown a solid back ring generally designated by the reference numeral 10 which embodies the principles of the present invention. In the preferred embodiment, the ring is shown as a type used to hold a decorative light-transmitting stone as is commonly used for graduation or class rings for high schools and colleges. The ring 10 has a finger encircling rigid structure or shank 12 which may be manufactured in various circumferences in order to accommodate different finger sizes. The shank 12 is formed with an enlarged upper portion 14 which is used to hold the stone 16. The upper portion or holding means 14 has a solid bottom portion or backing 18. Upper portion 14 which comprises the backing 18, may be integral as shown, or secured to the shank 12 by any wellknown method. The casting of a gold alloy in a mold is the manufacturing method most commonly used to produce such rings.

I he upper portion 14 is provided with an outwardly facing annular area forming a ledge or table 20 which supports a moisture seal 22. The stone 16 includes bottom surface means 24, the periphery of which is rigidly held against the moisture seal 22 by means of a peripheral bezel 26. The bezel 26 may be annular shaped and is designed to rigidly hold the bottom surface means 24 against the moisture seal 22 so that the stone 16 is rig idly encapsulated at least partially within a recess or cavity 28. The table 20 provides support for the stone 16 by providing a bearing surface. The table 20-also provides a support for lip portions 22a of the moisture seal 22.

The instant invention further contemplates the use of moisture seal 22 adapted to be used as a cup 3U which is disposed within the cavity 28, as shown in the drawing. The cavity 28 is defined by annular side walls and the solid backing 18. The cup 30 is preferably madefrom plastic out of metal molds and is employed to support a mirror 32. The mirror 32 is most advantageously made of a copper or brass slug which has a nickel and rhodium plated surface. In the preferred embodiment, the plastic cup 30 is of cylindrical shape having a bottom portion 31 which supports the nickel and rhodium plated copper slug 32. It must also be appreciated as being within the scope of the invention to provide a sealing means 22 which is not adapted to support a mirror 32. in this case, the sealing means 22 would consist only of the annular lip seal 22a, and there would be no requirement for the cup extension 30, as mirror 32 could be supported by the top portion or surface 19 of the solid backing 18. Mirror 32 could be glued or otherwise affixed to upper surface 19. From a practical standpoint, when solid back rings are cast, the upper surface 19 is usually rough and uneven and hence, not suitable for having a thin plated copper slug glued thereto. Thus, it can be seen that the plastic cup 36]) of the present invention is advantageous in that it provides not only a sealing means 22, but also a support means for the mirror 32.

By suitable reference to the drawing it can be understood that if light passes through the upper surface means 24a of the transparent stone 16 in a downward path through the bottom surface means 24, the light will then impinge upon mirror 32 whereupon it will be reflected in an upward path back through the bottom surface means 24 and outwardly through upper surface means 24a. To provide for an amazingly decorative reflection, bottom surface means 24 is provided with a series of ridges or facets 25 which reflect the outgoing light back and forth between the facets before the light is passed outwardly through upper surface means 241;. The result is an extremely bright and sparkling effect emanating from the novel stone and mirror construction of the instant invention.

Class or graduation rings as illustrated in the drawing are typically cast of a gold and alloy combination, as previously mentioned. Such a solid back ring is usually cast in one piece, but it is contemplated that such a ring could have an upper portion cast separately from the shank and joined together by any well-known method.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the foregoing preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other changes in form and detail. may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A finger ring comprising:

a rigid structure of a shape to at least partially encircle a finger, said structure having a cavity closed inwardly by a solid backing and opening outwardly within an outwardly facing annular area,

a generally cup-shaped member disposed within said cavity and having an annular lip engaging said annular area, I

a decorative stone disposed in peripheral engagement with said annular lip and having upper surface means and bottom surface means, said stone being of a material permitting light to pass therethrough between saidupper and bottom surface means,

means providing a mirror surface on said cupshaped member in a position to face the bottom surface means of said stone so that light passing through said stone from the upper surface means thereof through the bottom surface means thereof is reflected from said mirror surface to pass through said stone from the bottom surface means through the upper surface means thereof, and

means for fixedly securing said stone to said rigid structure said securing means holding said stone in said peripheral engagement with said lip thereby providing a moisture seal for the interior of said cup to protect the bottom surface means of said stone and said'mirror surface.

2. A finger ring as defined in claim 1 wherein said cup-shaped member is molded of a plastic material.

3. A finger ring as defined in claim 2 wherein said mirror surface providing means comprises a slug, said slug being of copper or brass and having a nickel and rhodium coating thereon providing said mirror surface.

4. A finger ring as defined in claim 3 wherein said securing means comprises a bezel formed integrally with said rigid structure engaging the periphery of the upper surface means of said stone.

5. A finger ring as defined in claim 4 wherein said bottom surface means of said stone includes a plurality of light reflecting facets.

6. A finger ring as defined in claim ll wherein said mirror surface providing means comprises a slug, said slug being of copper or brass and having a nickel and rhodium coating thereon providing said mirror surface. a 

1. A finger ring comprising: a rigid structure of a shape to at least partially encircle a finger, said structure having a cavity closed inwardly by a solid backing and opening outwardly within an outwardly facing annular area, a generally cup-shaped member disposed within said cavity and having an annular lip engaging said annular area, a decorative stone disposed in peripheral engagement with said annular lip and having upper surface means and bottom surface means, said stone being of a material permitting light to pass therethrough between said upper and bottom surface means, means providing a mirror surface on said cupshaped member in a position to face the bottom surface means of said stone so that light passing through said stone from the upper surface means thereof through the bottom surface means thereof is reflected from said mirror surface to pass through said stone from the bottom surface means through the upper surface means thereof, and means for fixedly securing said stone to said rigid structure said securing means holding said stone in said peripheral engagement with said lip thereby providing a moisture seal for the interior of said cup to protect the bottom surface means of said stone and said mirror surface.
 2. A finger ring as defined in claim 1 wherein said cup-shaped member is molded of a plastic material.
 3. A finger ring as defined in claim 2 wherein said mirror surfAce providing means comprises a slug, said slug being of copper or brass and having a nickel and rhodium coating thereon providing said mirror surface.
 4. A finger ring as defined in claim 3 wherein said securing means comprises a bezel formed integrally with said rigid structure engaging the periphery of the upper surface means of said stone.
 5. A finger ring as defined in claim 4 wherein said bottom surface means of said stone includes a plurality of light reflecting facets.
 6. A finger ring as defined in claim 1 wherein said mirror surface providing means comprises a slug, said slug being of copper or brass and having a nickel and rhodium coating thereon providing said mirror surface. 